Didn't think I was going to get to dive at Point Lobos this weekend, but then Andrew Yasinsky posted that he had an extra reservation. Dionna grabbed it and took pity on my buddy-less situation, and we were ready to go. Well, almost. There was a little paperwork snafu and the reservation didn't seem to actually exist, but Dionna was super-charming, the rangers were super-helpful, and we were soon squared away.

Whaler's Cove was glassy flat, amazing. We kicked out to just East of the Worm Patch and dropped down. Headed to the end of Middle Reef to take some video of the memorial plaque there for the upcoming BAUE man-made objects survey. Some big Gopher Rockfish hanging out in the kelp and rocks. From there, we headed past Hole in the Wall and towards Sea Mount to take some more video, this time of the submerged tire on the way to Sea Mount. Visibility was ok but not great, 15-20 feet. A beautiful, vibrant-red juvenile Vermilion posed for us a little later, and then Dionna took us out to Beto's Reef since I had never been there. We turned the dive there, and headed back in past a nice size Cabezon and tons of nudies (including a beautiful Triopha Catalinae).

On arriving back at the Worm Patch, I shot a bag for practice and up we went. Was so nice to walk up the boat ramp on such a calm day, like emerging from a swimming pool. Was also great to get to finally meet and dive with Dionna, and to see all the other BAUE folks in the parking lot. Hopefully we also got some useful video for the upcoming project. Of course, Dionna will edit out any shots where I am in anything less than perfect trim. =)

I took advantage of my birthday (and lots of unpaid overtime) to take the day off so that I could dive with Carol in her beautiful new TLS sea green TLS suit. We swam out to Seamount. Having your fiancé actually enjoy a cold water dive is a fine birthday present!

Saturday was a BAUE party at Lobos. With Beto running a fundies class and several dive teams going in, we were out in force. Suzanne and I did a nice leisurely kick dive out along middle reef and then across to hole in the wall and out to Beto's reef. Visibility was moderate, maxing out around 30ft (maybe) at 100fsw. The surge was intense even at depth, which made getting out at the boat ramp an interesting adventure.

Photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nomadwarmachine/sets/72157632928786652/

Susan and I went on Phil's boat today. Conditions were a bit rough, with large swells and forecasted winds for the afternoon so we decided to stay away from shore and Susan motored the boat towards the Mt. Chamberlin area. I dove K2 last weekend so we decided to try the sister pinnacle K1. We dropped the hook, did our check and jumped into the water to find a very strong current coming from the south. We scootered against it and after a while we made it to the peak and then down the wall.

The best part of the dive was a free swimming wolf eel that I almost put my hand on top of it before I realized it was there. The red gorgonias patches at about 150ft were spectacular.

The weather got much worst for the afternoon so we were happy to squeeze one dive before the worst part of the storm hit the area.

It seems like a year since I last dove with Joakim. He's such a nice guy. I really enjoyed diving with hi. Today, Jim, Joe and myself were diving on the Escapade Tech boat. Conditions did not look promising but we were able to dive K2 pinnacle. We followed the wall North and enjoyed some of the deeper sections of the structure. We found a baby Cow Cod inside a vase sponge, some basket stars and almost went under the little arch that comes out on the West Wall, but we ran out of time for it :-(

We met with Eric and Dough at the top of the pinnacle where a huge school of rock-fish was hanging around.

Yesterday I was thinking about content for next weekend presentation aboutBAUE and mapping at Point Lobos. I was looking for the first image that the Sea Floor Mapping Lab shared with us which I think it's about 10hr old by now. That was the first time we saw all the pinnacles in the north-west of Point Lobos, and soon after we dove E3 (Elephant Ear Extravaganza was the original name an so the E^^3 name) for the first time. I got tired of looking for the image and turned on the TV.

Interesting coincidence today during the tech-charter we headed out with some large swells, and strong south wing. The Captain decided to look for protection on the north side of Lobos and suddenly we're descending on E3 with about 100ft of visibility :-)

The downline was at about 130ft near the shallow peak of the pinnacle. There were tons of rock-fish at the top and several large ling-cods resting on the white sponges. We swam across the main valley that splits the reef in two, and I searched for the first encrusted yellow gorgonia we noticed in that area. It looked yellow from far away but as you got closer it became evident it was covered with yellow zonthaid. I still remember Sami's picture of it :-).

Met up with Doc Wong and Ben Villao for a fun dive at Lobos. When we arrived the ramp looked a bit sporty. Water was sloshing up to the parking lot. There were a few divers in the parking lot suiting up. Doc wanted to get in soon. Ben and I decided to wait and help some of the divers that were suiting up get in. Ben is a true public helper!! After talking to several people we discussed our dive plans. We timed our entry carefully and off we went. Water movement was strong and stirred up. While underwater we discussed some navigations and eventually found our way to Granite Point Wall. We scootered around and ended up on the West side of the wall. I did a species count while the guys kept a careful eye out for me. After about 45 minutes, we decided to head back in. Exiting was a team effort. Fun dive and extra special getting Doc Wong out in the water, seeing Ben Villao, and getting harassed by both of them.

While working on our Xmas plans Susan and I looked at the weather forecast for Monterey and decided an early xmas day dive was in order. We got to Point Lobos about 8:30am and Jessy greeted us with a her nice smile and welcome Merry xmas. She said the park is open every day of the year. Have to love that answer.

We got in the water as the tide was going out. We swam towards the Sea Mount and ran into a lot of creatures: Two guitar fish, 3 leopard sharks, several large sheep-heads and large school of señorita fish and tube-snouts. We got to Beto's reef and the dive became a slow drift. We stopped kicking as we enjoyed the terrain and the marine life. Once we go to the end of the reef the current was strong enough that we had to hide under the small walls to make our way back. On the way back we found a kelp gunnel at about 130ft (never have seen one away from the kelp), and a couple of rock grabs on the open.

On the way back we encounter the 2 playful leopard sharks (probably same ones we saw going out), and also a small harbor seal that was hanging around them. It was fun to stop at merge with the animals for a bit.

As we surfaced the rain had already started and we rapidly headed back home. We got the turkey going and have a great xmas dinner, followed by a frisbee game with our dog Naia. At 4:30pm the rain storm started, so our timing was good :-)

I was able to hook up with Carol and Larry Cohn for a dive Saturday, December 8th on XTA Sea, AKA Carol’s RIB. The goal was to get to a site that would be manageable to dive and do a Reef survey of fish and invertebrates. The forecast was a little iffy on the more exposed sites. We decided to drop anchor at Hopkins Deep Reef. We suited up into our gear and I hooked my survey slate to one of my D-rings and off we went. We were surprised to see the conditions were very good. About 30ft-40ft of vis. Depth range was 60-73ft, bottom temps: 55F, Habitat: Reef

Here is a video of Hopkins Deep Reefhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubrtnZd573M

Shale Island was also survey and data collect.

The species I Identified while meandering around on the reef were the following.The codes we used to record the amount of fish and invertebrate are from the Reef.org survey protocols, which are the following:S-single; F-Few (2-10); M-Many (11-100); A-Abundant>100; P-Present